Coffee percolator



June 6, 1967 1... P. MANSHIP ET AL 3,323,441

- COFFEE PERCOLATOR Original Filed July 51, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

I07 iNVENTORSI CHARLES R. TURNER LUTHER P. MANSHIP BY STEPHEN W ZAMISKA ATTY S June 6, 1967 MANSHlP ET AL 3323,44?

COFFEE PERCOLATOR Original Filed July 31, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 L; R,-5 FIGS A 3 FIG. 2. w I! 7 if INVENTORS.

CHARLES R. TURNER LUTHER P. MANSHIP STEPHEN W.ZAMISKA ATTYS.

June 6, 1967 L. P. MANSHIP ET AL 3,323,441

COFFEE PERCOLATOR Original Filed July :51, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIGS.

I'NVENTORSI CHARLES R TURNER LUTHER P MANSHIP Y STEPHEN W. ZAMISKA ATTVS.

United States Patent 3,323,441 CUFFEE PERCULATOR Luther P. Manship, Collingdale, and Charles R. Turner and Stephen W. Zamislra, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to The Proctor-Silex Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Connecticut Original application July 31, 1964, Ser. No. 386,527, now Patent No. 3,282,196, dated Nov. 1, 1966. Divided and this application (Pet. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 510,115

7 Claims. (Cl. 99-310) This application is a division of copending application, Ser. No. 386,527, filed July 31, 1964, entitled Coffee Percolator, and now Patent No. 3,282,196 granted Nov. 1, 1966.

This invention relates to coffee brewing apparatus, and more particularly to improvements in the construction of electric coffee percolators.

It has long been recgonized that the brewing of coffee in a metallic vessel may result in the development of a certain measure of rancidity due to a tendency for natural organic acids to react with the metal. To guard against off-flavors, and also for aesthetic reasons, the use of a glass container has become increasingly popular, particularly for coffee makers of the drip or vacuum type. An attempt to use glass in the construction of electric percolators has encountered special problems, one of which is the need for a leak-proof seal between the glass c-o-ntainer and the metallic member supplying heat for the percolating operation. The prior art includes a number of proposed arrangements using glass or ceramic containers. In general, these prior art arrangements comprise an externally threaded extension of the walls defining a heat pump well, which extension projects upwardly into the interior of the container. A nut is arranged to be screwed downward on the threaded extension to bind the bottom of the container against a horizontal face, with one of more gaskets positioned therebetween. When assembled in this manner, the container and the base are inseparable in normal use, requiring the handling of the whole percolator as cleaning is required. If, in such handling, the container should be broken, replacement is not easy since it requires special facilities for loosening the nut and for properly reassembling the percolator with new parts. It is an object of this invention to provide a percolator having a container that may be removed easily for cleaning and that :may be quickly installed in sealed relationship with the heat pump.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a percolator wherein the coffee grounds basket, the fountain tube, and a removable lid can be handled as an interconnected unit.

These and other features of novelty will be apparent from the following description with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the coffee percolator embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 1a is an exploded perspective View similar to FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 1b is a perspective view of a portion of the apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1 with the electrical parts in the base omitted;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FlGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the clasp member of the apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an exploded perspective view of latch structure used to maintain the coffee percolator assembled;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of the clasp member and related structure for 'holding the tube of the coffee basket with the coffee basket secured to the fountain tube;

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view similar to FIGURE 7 with the legs of the clasp member actuated away from engagement with the tube of coffee basket;

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIGURE 2.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 1a, the percolator comprises a generally cylindrical, hollow cup-shaped base generally designated 10, preferably moulded with integral feet 10a of phenolic resin, and having a separate handle 11 of similar material rigidly secured to the base and extending upwardly from one side thereof. Container 14, preferably constructed of heat-resistant glass, is nested within the lip of base 10 and is clamped 0n the base by latch means, generally designated 15, in the upper portion of handle 11. The glass container 14 is provided With an inverted cup-shaped sheet metal lid 16 s-urmounted by a knob 17, preferably of a moulded resinous material. The lid 16, which nests within the divergently upwardly flared collar of the glass container, encloses the lip and top portion of a coffee basket 18 located in the conventionally cup-shaped glass container. Fountain tube 20 extends downwardly from the coffee basket 18 to the base 10.

As can be seen in FIGURE 2, a cup-shaped heat-pump Well 22 is centrally positioned in the base. The upper lip of the well provides a collar 24 which extends upwardly into container 14 through aperture 26 centrally located in the bottom of the glass container. The bottom of well 22 has a downwardly extending st-ud 28 which enables it to be secured to the bottom of base 10 by screw 3%. Stud 28 has an internally threaded bore to accommodate screw 30, which passes upwardly through counterbore 31 in the bottom of the base It Two resistance heaters 32 and 33 are incorporated respectively in and around the side walls of well 22 and are electrically insulated therefrom but in heat-transfer relationship with well 22. Primary heater 32 is adapted to perform the percolating operation, and secondary heater 33 is provided to maintain the brewed coffee at a predetermined temperature after percolation is completed. A rubber ring 34 of irregular cross section fits over a thin annular extension 35 atop the lip of base 10. A portion 37 of rubber ring 34 extends downwardly into the base along its sidewalls. The lower end of portion 37 is shaped to form a horizontally disposed annular slot 39 into which the outer edge of a translucent flexible disc 40 is snapped. Disc 40 has a central circular opening 41 which is positioned to permit disc 40 to slip over the upper end of collar 24 around well 22. The edge of disc 40 bounding the well 22 seats on annular flange 42 of well 22 and the outer periphery of disc 40 is pressed downwardly over rubber ring 34 and into slot 39 where it is held in a leak-tight relationship.

An annular rubber sealing member 53 fits snugly over collar 24 and against flange 42. Sealing member 53 also provides a flap 53a which overrides and seats on the upper face of disc 40. The outside of sealing member 53 together with flap 53a is of generally conical form. Preferably, sealing member 53 includes behind flap 5311 an annular recess 55 to provide maximum resilience.

Glass container 14 has an outward step near its bottom which permits its seating in base 10 and the container tapers to a smaller diameter neck 14a near its open top. Above the neck 14a the container flares outwardly in a collar 56 that broadens from a narrow width at the point of engagement of latch .15 to a pouring lip 57. The outand proportions of the parts, the outside of the percolator from the glass container 14 through sealing ring 34 and base presents a substantially smooth surface.

In assembling the percolator, the stepped bottom section of glass container 14 is pushed downwardly within ring 34 so that the inner edge of aperture 26 in the bottom of container 14 engages the tapered outer diameter of sealing member 53. A liquid tight seal is formed between these parts by downward pressure on container 14, created by latch means 15, which will now be described in detail.

Handle 11 provides a generally vertically extending hand grip portion 62 terminating in a generally horizontal extension 63 which extends inwardly toward container 14. Extension 63 is longitudinally grooved to provide a recess 64 in the top thereof arranged to receive latch means 15. As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 6, latch means is assembled in a generally channel-shaped bracket 74, which includes a pair of spaced tongues 75 extending lengthwise from one end of the bracket. A leaf spring 76 is provided having grooves near one end thereof forming a T-shaped end portion 77 adapted to fit between tongues 75 to serve as a hinge. The body of the leaf spring is curved upwardly when its free end lies against the bottom of bracket 74. Mounted above leaf spring 76 is a resilient latch arm 79, one end of which is provided with a T-shaped portion, similar to the T-shaped portion of leaf spring 76, to serve as a hinge when fitted between tongues 75. The free end latch arm 79 is in the form of a hook arranged to fit over the collar 56 of container 14. The latch arm has a central longitudinal narrow opening 80 to reduce its cross-section for added resilience.

Positioned above latch arm 79 is a generally L-shaped lever 81 mounted in bracket 74 by means of a pivot pin 82 which extends between vertically upstanding ear extensions formed above each side of the bnacket. The short lever arm 84 of the L-shaped lever has indented sides to fi-t between the vertically extending ear extensions of bracket 74, and serves as a cam to engage the upper face of latch arm 79 and to thereby force downwardly atop the top edge of collar 56 the hook portion of latch arm 79 into resiliently firm engagement with the collar of container 14. This is done against the upward bias provided by the curved portion of leaf spring 46. The latch is operated by manually rotating long lever arm 85 of the L-shaped lever 81 about its pivot 82. When the free end of lever arm 85 is pushed downwardly leaf spring 76 is compressed and resilient latch arm 79 is bent downwardly at a point intermediate its pivotal connection and its free end. At the limit of its travel, short lever arm 84 passes overcenter so that the latch arm is maintained in its locking position. When the free end of lever arm 85 is lifted, the pressure on the latch arm is released and leaf spring 76 lifts the portion of hook latch arm 79 away from engagement with the collar of container .14.

Since all of the operating parts of the latching means are attached to bracket 74, they form a self-contained assembly which may be mounted into the recess in the handle as a unit. As can be seen in FIGURE 2, grooved recess 64 is of a size to receive the latch means and has a narrow longitudinally extending opening 86 in line with the bottom of the recess to receive the tongues of the bracket and a blind hole 87 in its bottom in extension 63 at 90 to the plane of the bracket adapted to receive an integral downwardly turned lip 88 of the bracket. As shown in FIGURE 9, outwardly projecting portions 89 and 90 of the sides of the bracket 74 resiliently snap into grooves 91 and 92, respectively, opening out from the channel side walls as the channel bracket 74 is slid into grooved recess 64. The bracket and its associated parts are thereby held against displacement in any direction.

In assembling the percolator for use, latch lever arm 85 is pivoted upwardly, thereby releasing pressure on latch arm 79. Glass container 14 is then installed by fitting its bottom into the sealing ring 34 at the base 10 so that its collar underlies the hook portion of latch arm 79. The

free end of the lever arm is next pressed downwardly to the extent of its travel, whereby latch arm 79, presses the container downward into sealed relationship with ring 34 and sealing member 53. This must be done before the internal parts of the percolator are placed in container 14, for reasons that will be explained hereinafter.

The fountain tube 20 is provided with a cupped disc 93 with upturned lip secured to annular shoulder 20a near the lower end of the fountain tube, the disc 93 being of such diameter that it will pass through the upper end of collar 24 into well 22 and seat against a beveled surface 94, as shown in FIGURE 2. Apertures 95 are arranged through disc 93 to permit liquid from upper chamber 96 to enter the lower chamber 96a of member 22. A smaller diameter circular valve disc 97 with downturned edges is loosely mounted beneath disc 93 adapted to slide along tube 20 between disc 93 and annular shoulder 20b to close the apertures 95 when pressure is developed within well 22.

A coffee basket 18, having a perforate bottom 98, is provided with a centrally located upstanding tube 99 adapted snugly to accommodate the upper end of fountain tube 30. The top portion 100 of tube 99 is swedged inwardly to act as a stop to position the upper end of a coil spring 101, which must be inserted upwardly from the bottom into tube 99. Spring 101 includes at least one coil of greater diameter in relaxed condition than the inside diameter of tube 99, serving to grip the inside walls of the tube to hold the spring tightly in place. The lower end of spring 101 is provided with a downwardly extending elongated hair pin loop 102, adapted to enter the upper end of fountain tube 20 and by its resilience bear against its inside walls to support the weight of tube 20 through frictional engagement therewith and thereby to hold the fountain tube 20 in the proper position against beveled surface 94.

Glass container 14 is provided with removable sheet metal lid 16 in the form of an inverted cup. The knob 17 is secured to lid 16 by means of a tubular rivet 104 which extends through an axially disposed bore in the knob. The upper flange of rivet 104 seats against the bottom of a concentric bore 105 in the top of the knob 17, and the lower flange of rivet 104 seats against a bifurcated resilient clasp member 106 located as shown in FIGURE 2 against the underface of the lid riveting together the knob 17, the lid 16 and clasp 106. The tubular rivet passes through opening 106a in the base 107 of the clasp member 106 shown in detail in FIGURE 5.

Each finger 108 of clasp member 106 taken with base 107 forms a generally elongated S-shape, one being opposed to the other in a symmetrical arrangement. The distance between the free ends of the fingers 108 of the clasp member is greater than the diameter of the tube 99 of the coffee basket, which tube includes a radially outwardly extending ring flange 109 formed adjacent its tapered upper end. The closest spacing between the S- shaped fingers 108 of the clasp member is less than the diameter of ring portion 109, but from this point the fingers 108 diverge toward their free ends. After coffee basket 18 has been filled with ground coffee, lid 16 is pressed downward over the top of the basket. As the divergent portions of fingers 108 of clasp member 106 contact the tapered end of tube 99, their resilience permits them to be forced apart until the ring flange 109 dies within or above (toward its base 107) the level of minimum distance between the fingers. The ring 109 is thus resiliently gripped by the clasp member. Preferably portions of flange 109 enter slots 110 in fingers 108 to clamp securely, mechanically as well as frictionally, tube 99 to the clasp member (as shown in FIGURES 2 and 7. The fountain tube 20 is then telescoped into tube 99 by pushing it upward until hair pin loop 102 of spring 101 enters the open end and retains tube 20. These interconnected parts, lid 16, basket 18 and tube 20, as shown in FIG- URE 1b, may be lifted by means of knob 17 and positioned in container 14 to seat disc 93 in the heat pump well 22. Spring 101 yields to pushing the lid downwardly against its bias until the inwardly beveled lip 111 of the lid seats against the matching bevel of the collar 56 of container 14. When the lid is seated, a pair of spacers 112 in the form of protrusions embossed in lip 111 of lid 16, as seen in FIGURE 3, are in a position to fit beneath neck 14a of the container and thereby cooperate with the latch member, to be described hereinafter, to hold the lid 16 in place. The spacers also serve to permit coffee to be poured between the container and the lid with the lid in place by spacing the lid from collar 56 in the region of lip 57, as seen in FIGURE 4.

At a point generally opposite spacers 112, the side wall of lid 16 is inwardly deformed to provide a vertically extending recess 113, including an elongated aperture 114 within and at the bottom of the recess. A generally S-s-haped latch member 115, which may be of moulded resinous material is mounted in recess 113 to extend through the aperture 114. One end of latch member is attached by screw or rivet 116 to the lip of the lid below the aperture 114 behind recess 113 within the lid. The mounting of latch member 115 causes the middle transverse section to extend through aperture 114 and terminate in a thumb piece extending parallel to the other end in its generally upwardly projection. The thumb piece 115a is grooved for non-slip thumb engagement and may be pressed while the hand grips handle 11. The intermediate transverse portion of latch member 115 has an upwardly opening groove 117 positioned to receive the downwardly directed tip of the hooked end of latch arm 79. Groove 117 is so located that when lid 16 is pressed downwardly, the lower portion of the latch member below groove 117 engages the free end of latch arm 79 which urges latch member 115 by wedge or camming action away from latch arm 49, due to the flexibility of the lower portion of the latch member and the portion of the lid supporting the latch member until the end of latch arm 79 snaps into groove 117. Groove 117 is an exaggerated shoulder against which the end of latch arm 79 abuts as a stop so that any shoulder and stop pro viding a downward force component would serve the same function. The latch member cooperates with spacers 112 to hold the lid in a position where spring 101 is partially compressed so as to cause disc 93 on the lower portion of the fountain tube to seat firmly against beveled surface 94 of the heat well as well as providing resilient reaction force against the stop afforded by the end of latch arm.

After the lid is positioned, as described above, the L- shaped lever 81 is inaccessible and cannot be disengaged readily since its sides are within recess 64 and its end is too close to thumb piece 115a of latch member 115. This guards against inadvertent release of latch means 15 while the percolator is in use.

For cleaning the glass container, the thumb piece 115a of latch member 115 is pushed away from latch arm 79 until the end of the latch arm 79 is released from and clears recess 117. The lid, coffee basket and fountain tube assembly of FIGURE 1b may then be lifted out by knob 17.

Slidably mounted within bore 105 of knob 17 is a push button 126 which is integral with a rod 127 which extends through tubular rivet 104. A button 128 with a rounded lower face is attached to the lower end of rod 127. Button 128 in its upper rest position fits snugly between generally parallel portions of fingers 108 of clasp member 106. Between the push button 126 and the bottom of bore 105 is a spring 130 which normally biases the push button and its attached parts upwardly into the rest position shown in FIGURES 2 and 7. To separate basket 18 from lid 16, as shown in FIGURE 8, the push button is pressed against the bias of spring 130 which moves disc 128 downwardly against portions of the fingers 108 which converge to the narrowest portion of the spacing between the fingers and forced apart they release their grip on flange 109 and tube 99 of the coffee basket 18, as shown in FIGURES 7 and 8.

Once the lid has been removed from container 14, the free end of lever 81 is accessible. When the arm is lifted, leaf spring 76 raises latch arm 79 away from engagement with the top rim on container 14 and the container may be lifted from base 10. Before this is done, however, the container should be emptied to avoid any substantial flow of liquid through aperture 26 in its bottom when it is separated from sealing member 53. Any liquid that remains will be caught by disc 40, which with its seal prevents the liquid from contacting the electrical parts in the base.

Although the removable container is described as being made of heat-resistant glass, the invention may be applied to a percolator having a container constructed of any desired material. The foregoing description is merely illustrative and various modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the appended claims shall cover such modifications as do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a coffee percolator, a container having an open upper end, a fountain tube adapted to be removably disposed in said container, a perforate coffee grounds basket having a central upstanding tube adapted to fit over the upper end of said fountain tube, a coil spring having at least one coil of larger outside diameter than the inside diameter of said upstanding tube and arranged to grip the upstanding tube when inserted therein, said spring having an axially disposed elongated loop at one end thereof arranged to grip said fountain tube, whereby said basket and said fountain tube are releasably joined together.

2. In a cofiee percolator, a container having an open upper end, a fountain tube adapted to be removably disposed in said container, a perforate coffee grounds basket having a central upstanding tube adapted to fit over an upper end of said fountain tube, a coil spring arranged to releasably join said basket to said fountain tube, a removable lid serving as a closure for said container, and means for releasably connecting said basket to said lid, whereby said fountain tube and basket may be lifted as an assembly by means of said lid.

3. In a coffee percolator, a container having an open upper end, a fountain tube adapted to be removably disposed in said container, a perforate coffee grounds basket having a central upstanding tube adapted to fit over an upper end of said fountain tube, a coil spring arranged to releasably join said basket to said fountain tube, generally radially projecting annular shoulder means adjacent an upper end of said upstanding tube, a removable lid serving as a closure for said container, a pair of opposed resilient fingers centrally carried by said lid and depending therefrom having lower end portions engageable with said shoulder means, and push button means projecting axially through said lid operatively interconnected with said fingers for actuating said fingers to connect and disconnect said basket and lid.

4. A percolator in accordance with claim 3, wherein said fingers have one end secured to said lid and their free ends are biased toward engagement with said upstanding tube, and said push button means comprises a spreader adapted to separate said fingers when the push button is pressed.

5. In a coffee percolator, a container having an open upper end, a fountain tube adapted to be removably disposed in said container, a perforate coffee grounds basket having a central upstanding tube adapted to fit over an upper end of said fountain tube, a coil spring interposed between said basket and said fountain tube arranged to releasably join said basket and said fountain tube, a removable lid serving as a closure for said container, means for releasably connecting said basket to said lid, and releasable means associated with said container for releasably retaining said lid in a fixed vertical position, whereby said spring is partially compressed.

6. A percolator in accordance with claim 5, wherein said lid is in the form of an inverted cup, and said releasable means includes a spring-biased latch member connected to an exterior side wall of said lid and arranged to be held in a fixed relation to said container.

7. In a coffee percolator, a container having an open upper end, a fountain tube adapted to be removably disposed in said container, a perforate coffee grounds basket arranged to fit over an upper end of said fountain tube, a coil spring interposed between said basket and said fountain tube, a lid in the form of an inverted cup engaging an upper portion of said basket, said container being shaped in such manner as to have a circumferential portion of minimum diameter adjacent its top portion, a plurality of spaced protrusions provided in a side wall of said lid adapted to fit beneath said portion of minimum diameter, and a latch member connected to said lid at a point opposite said protrusions adapted to be held in a fixed relation to said container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,013,410 1/1912 Lynch 287-86 2,809,578 10/1957 Campbell 99312 2,835,190 5/1958 Graham 99-319 X 3,084,614 4/1963 Blanding et a1 99-312 X 3,174,424 3/1965 Serio 99-310 X WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

S. P. FISHER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A COFFEE PERCOLATOR, A CONTAINER HAVING AN OPEN UPPER END, A FOUNTAIN TUBE ADAPTED TO BE REMOVABLY DISPOSED IN SAID CONTAINER, A PERFORATE COFFEE GROUNDS BASKET HAVING A CENTRAL UPSTANDING TUBE ADAPTED TO FIT OVER THE UPPER END OF SAID FOUNTAIN TUBE, A COIL SPRING HAVING AT LEAST ONE COIL OF LARGER OUTSIDE DIAMETER THAN THE INSIDE DIAMETER OF SAID UPSTANDING TUBE AND ARRANGED TO GRIP UPSTANDING TUBE WHEN INSERTED THEREIN, SAID SPRING HAVING AN AXIALLY DISPOSED ELONGATED LOOP AT ONE END THEREOF ARRANGED TO GRIP SAID FOUNTAIN TUBE, WHEREBY SAID BASKET AND SAID FOUNTAIN TUBE ARE RELEASABLY JOINED TOGETHER. 